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Lucky members draw sign of relief

Some of the unscathed politicians feign ignorance as to why they got lucky. | AP Photos
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David McKinley (R-W.Va.)

Democrats in control of West Virginia redistricting had considered roughing up the freshman Republican in any number of ways, including throwing him into the same district as longtime Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, robbing him of some GOP-heavy rural strongholds and drawing in some more Democratic-leaning areas in the eastern panhandle.

But a mix of regional and statewide political considerations ultimately left McKinley untouched.

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Most notably, McKinley would have seriously considered a run against Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin if he was left without a winnable seat, having run for governor before and occupying a space high on the state’s thin Republican bench.

And local leaders in the northern panhandle region, already represented by one of their own, didn’t want to share a district with the eastern panhandle in the way that would have packed more Democrats into McKinley’s district.

In the end, the state’s congressional map barely changed, with just one county shifting from Capito’s district to the one held by Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall.

“Instead of redrawing the entire state, they took the easy route,” former state Democratic Chairman Michael Callaghan said of the Legislature.
Ron Kind (D-Wis.)

With Wisconsin Republicans having swept into power, Kind had plenty of reason to worry that he might be drawn into fellow Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s district. Kind, after all, was the only Democrat in a battleground district to survive the 2010 GOP wave in the state.

But Wisconsin isn’t losing any seats, and drawing safer districts for Republican Reps. Paul Ryan and Sean Duffy became a bigger priority.

Kind’s seat actually became safer, picking up Democratic-leaning Portage County and Stevens Points from Duffy’s district, and jettisoning red St. Croix County, where Kind always underperformed.

Kind, in turn, passed on a Senate bid and is running for reelection.

“When you don’t lose a seat, it’s tough to draw things in a way that members don’t just go back and keep their seats,” said Brian Schimming, a former political director of the state GOP.
Aaron Schock (R-Ill.)

Every Illinois Republican had reason for terror this year, with state Democrats in full control of the process that eventually ended in a bloodbath for Republicans.

Schock, in essence, was one of the last men standing.

Despite talk of stretching his Peoria-area district west all the way toward the Democratic-leaning Quad Cities and the Iowa border, Democrats instead removed blue parts of southern Peoria and Putnam County from his district.

Schock, a sophomore who enjoys some labor support and has fared better than most Republicans among minority voters, now appears headed for a third term.

“There was just such a plethora of Republicans to get redistricted out of their seats,” said Illinois Democratic strategist Eric Adelstein. “But in the game of musical chairs, someone still gets a seat.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Eric Adelstein.

Computers should be drawing all the district lines & NOT politicians of either party!

IE Technology is good enough w/ all the census data, demographics et al - So, no humans should be allowed to draw any electoral lines!

Sidebar: [ IF this Eric Holder Department of Justice neglects its Duty To Challenge Voter-Suppression Laws in states adverse to Democracy, THEN the redistricting won't matter 'cause millions of voters become disenfranchised.]

Actually, the use of computers has made the issue even more political. Due to the speed that redistricting can be done now, it is easier to work through all the ways to redraw districts to mess with the party that is out of power.

It is interesting that Ca. has some easy Dem districts but the reps there are....crooks. Laura Richardson is one. She is black, has been in a safe district and now may be challenged not only by a Pub but by a fellow Dem. We shall see if the Pubs can sneak into that district and win. Ca. is so Dem now, that that would be a miracle. One reason that Ca. is so doomed.